4 Thunder And Lightning
by LavenderNight67
Summary: They were once the Gaurdians Triumphant, the heroes of the Tower. Now, they are considered unstable, dangerouus, even. Kalara and Lavender must survive in the wilds, shunned by those they once fought for. History could repeat again, but not in the way you might think.
1. Chapter 1

The Cosmodrome, Old Russia. Once a nexxus of trans-planetary transport, now reduced to rusted ruins. Atop one of the dilapidated buildings, a pair of figures reclined, sharing a bottle of something once called "Vodka."

The purple-blue haired ex-gaurdian regaurded her companion. "And there I was, between a group of Fallen and a group of Taken. It was probly one of the most confusing battles I've ever beeen in." She smiled, remembering those days. But, her smile turned a bit bitter. She trailed off in thought.

The tower had rejected her as much as they had Lavender, calling them "mistakes". They had basically told them they could be 'fixed', as though their unclassed powers were some sort of mistake. Kalara frowned. Lavender had commed her at the time, right after she'd had a discussion with the Vangaurd leader. The morning after the day they had defeated the last remnant of the darkness at the heart of the black garden. That had been a week ago, now. It still hurt a bit. She glanced over at her teammate, knowing she remembered it, also.

\- FLASHBACK - ONE WEEK AGO -

It was morning, and Lavender yawned as she walked though her living room, trying to ignore the sound disrupting her wake-up routine. The comm on her desk dinged again. A message. "Time to go talk to the boss again." she hummed softly as she go into the elevator.

She walked into the hall of the Vangaurd, headed over to Cayde, but he motioned toward the far end of the table. "Zavala wants to speak with you." She walked over, stopped next to him. " Commander."

"You have driven back the last renamnt of the darkness that nearly ended this world. For that, you have our thanks. However, there are those who could view your... enhanced abilities as a threat, rather than an asset."

She noticed how he chose his next words carefully.

Lavender frowned as he continued.

"We have kept knowledge of the Transcendants secret for a reason. There are those who would try to use such superior power for their own purposes. Factions have battled in the tower before, with devastating consequences." He looked her in the eyes as he continued. "If you choose to stay here and persue the path of a Gaurdian, it must be the path of the class of which you have been chosen."

Lavender made a soft noise of discontent. "And so the darkness is defeated, and you don't need me anymore? You think I'm a threat? is that it?"

"No. You misunderstand. You were created a Gaurdian with a single class. And that is what you were meant to be. Where there is confusion, there is the possibility of conflict. The Vanaurd work together to drive back the darkness, and placing one gaurdian above any other would be nothing lesss than detrimental to the whole. It would cause jealousy, even altercations are a possibility. There have been confrontations in the past here in the Tower. Not from Transcendants like yourself, but from the factions warring for power, with equally devastating cosequences."

He paused before continuing.

"But you know nothing of the faction wars. They had nothing in common with what you are, but such a level of conflict must never be seen again. You are something unique, an abbarition that must never be revealed. Knowledge of your kind is forbidden, yet you have been somewhat careless in your use of your unique skillset. other Gaurdians have witnessed it, now."

Lavender muttered "Ouch."

The Vangaurd leader added "The speaker has requested your prescence, so he can remedy the situation."

Lavender took a step back, replying "I only used my skills in the Black Garden. I don't think anyone but Kalara was with me."

"And before that?"

"...I was defending the tower!"

She saw the look that he gave her. She retorted "I'm not broken! you can't fix what's not broken!" she glanced over. "Right, boss?"

Cayde caught her glance and added "They did destroy what was left of the darkness."

Lavender folded her arms.

Zavala didn't budge. "These orders came from the speaker himself. Either you agree to them, or you leave the tower." He shook his head.

Lavender nearly collaped, leaning on the edge of the table.

She finally whispered "I can't believe you." she shook her head. "After all I've done. and you still don't think I'm worthy."

She looked up, temper flaring. We faced down Hive superweapons, infiltrated the Dreadnaught, and you want to kick me out!?"

"Those were not my words."

"No, but you implied that I'm a mistake. Something that should not be." she snorted dirisively. She had to pause a moment, realising her next words would decide her future. "I have to think about this." She turned and stalked out.

When she reached the plaza, she hit her comm. "Kalara, it's Lavender, we need to have a talk."

Kalara Baxtin stomped down the steps and strode past the crucible stands. Down the steps to the hall of leaders, face brimming with anger. She ignored Cayde and stomped right up to Zavala.

"what did you say to her!?"

A blank look, then "to Whom?"

"Lavender! She's sitting in my living room right now bawling her eyes out!"

The Vangaurd leader thought for a moment, then replied "It was not my intention to hurt her feelings. I was explaining the desicion that she must make." He looked over at her. "And, you must as well." Kalara took a step back in suprise.

"Even with as much as you two and your teams have done for the tower, you are not exempt from the rules." Kalara held up a hand "Stop right there. Lavender told me what you said to her."

She turned and took a couple steps away. "Lav? it's Kalara. You were right."

Lavender replied "I'll be right there."

Kalara looked over at Cayde and added "And you could have at least defended her."

"I did! I mentioned how you two defeated the darkness, and stuff."

Zavala added "You two cannot continue to use your enhanced abilities as Gaurdians."

Kalara jumped in when he paused. "Then I'll take this to the Speaker, if I have to."

"These orders *are* from the speaker."

Kalara felt her temper flaring a bit more.

Lavender appeared and walked up. Kalara added "Then our choice is made." she glanced at Lavender, who was nodding. Kalara summoned her Ghost. "Oberon, please go get my things." She shook her head. "And you three." she motioned "Can worry about killing the Taken king without us."

Lavender mumbled "Lots of luck with that."

Cayde spoke up with "Just like that? with everything that's happened? you're just gonna leave. abandone the pack." Kalara turned to look at him "I know where *my* loyalties lie. This.." she waved a hand to indicate Lavender and herself. "This is my pack. We're the only ones like this." Another glance sideways, toward Zavala. "I can't be where I'm not wanted."

Lavender folded her arms, lowering her voice slightly. "You know, they probably want to 'fix' us because they're intimidated by us."

"Lavender, There's no need to be condescending." Kalara frowened slightly. Her ghost reappeared a moment later. It looked around, seeming sad. It finally asked "Are you sure you want to do this?" Kalara looked at it.

"My bags, please." her ghost teleported a medium-sized bag with a flap on top and a shoulder strap.

She reached up and undid the pin from her arm. She leaned over and placed it on the table in front of Cayde. "This." it clinked as metal touched wood. "Is over." she shook her head. "and you are no longer my boss." She turned away, reached down and grabbed the bag, shouldering it as she turned and walked out, Lavender following.

They walked part of the way into the next room, teleporting as they went.

\- PRESENT MOMENT -

Kalara glanced to the right, pulled out of her memories by the flash of a transmat. "oh, hello." She looked through the scope of her sniper rifle.

"Hey Lavender, rookies at twelve o-clock!" she sounded amused. There were five of them. Lower level ranging from 11 to 17, all but the sixth, a level 40.

Her fellow hunter sighted the group through the scope of her sniper rifle. "Thunder and Lightning, scaring the armor off KinderGaurdians, one rookie at a time." She took aim and fired. She struck one squarely in the helmet.

"What the hell!?" Kalara jumped up, grabbing the barrel of Lavender's rifle and pulled it off target.

"Oh, come on, they'll just respawn."

"It's not about that. We don't shoot other Gaurdians. Period."

Kalara realised it was probably a group out on training excersises. She added "And did you happen to catch that their group had a level 40 with them?"

Lavender gave her a blank look until said Gaurdian materialised on the rooftop behind them. He raised his pistol. Kalara summoned her ghost "We're out."

But the Gaurdian, whoever he was, fired off a shot from his sidearm.

It was something Kalara had never seen before. It hit her Ghost, and it wobbled midair. It muttered something about something called an "EMP", and started to float downward, as though losing power.

Kalara swore. "Lav, with me!"

The Gaurdian fired again, and Kalara jumped up, grabbing her Ghost out of midair as she went, falling toward the now-empty ground below. She went into a glide, Lavender behind her, and commed "Were did all the others go?"

They landed in the small area, and suddenly, all five of them appeared at the same time, surrounding the duo. All five had their weapons trained on the pair. "Don't move." one commanded. "Do Not Move."

Kalara looked around, impressed. "Wow. A full-team three-hundred-sixty degree Jack-in-the-box maneuver. Im-pressive."

"Why, thank you." Their leader had jumped down to join the main group.

Kalara regaurded the Gaurdian with a bit of mistrust. She said "We heard your little patrol beacon. So Now the tower thinks we're unstable and dangerous?"

The mystery-Hunter kept his tone nonchalant, as thought it were just another friendly conversation. "Well, not so much dangerous as out of control."

"Oh really."

"Yeah, so, you two can come back with us. Or, we can handle things here."

Lavender put in "You can't fix what isn't broken."

The hunter ignored the comment, adding "Oh, and, they were also wondering where Thorn went."

"WHAT!?" Kalara exclaimed.

Lavender exchanged a look with Kalara, then looked at the Gaurdian in front of them. "I don't have it." She declared. She looked at him. Then added "I swear, I don't have it."

Kalara nodded. "And we're not going back. We can still do good out here. It doesn't have to be like this. We're not dangerous."

The hunter took a step forward. "We both know it doesn't work that way. So just hand over your ghost..." Kalara took a step toward him, shoulders squared, challenging "Or what!? You'll shoot me?"

The group readjusted their weapons, signaling for the rogue gaurdians not to move again.

Their group leader motioned to them "Guys." They lowered their weapons. then to Kalara "Is this really how you wanna handle this?"

Kalara slipped her paralyzed ghost into her bag. She saw that the EMP weapon had been replaced by his hand cannon. She shook her head. "I'm not going back. And I'm guessing you're not gonna shoot me, either."

Lavender looked confused. "But we don't even know who he is." Kalara looked over, then back at the hunter. She shook her head. "No, you don't. But I do." she let her gun drop to the ground. "I can't believe you. We didn't do anything wrong except be different. And yet, here we are." She made a broad motion.

"And I'm guessing taking potshots at rookies isn't your idea of wrong?"

Kalara shot Lavender a glare. She mumbled "sorry."

Kalara said "I'm sorry. that should never have happened."

"And the last three times? what was that?"

Kalara shook her head. After a moment, she replied with "we were out here all alone. We were super bored. There were no Fallen or Taken in the immediate area, so I -we- just figured they would just reappear, not even seeing us. It was also showing them that one should never let their gaurd down in the wilds, because there might just be a sniper waiting somewhere to pick them off." She shrugged. Also, there was a group of Fallen, off at a distance, but headed straight for them. It was kind of a heads-up."

The mystery-hunter looked like he was actually thinking about it. "You know, now that you put it that way... Waitaminute waitaminute. we're getting off track here." He motioned to forget it. "Look. I have orders -we- have orders to bring you two back to the tower by any means neccesary. So why don't we just wrap up this conversation and get going before any more fallen show up."

Lavender simply shook her head. Kalara echoed her statement. "You can't fix what's not broken." She took a step back.  
His hand cannon came up, aimed at her. "I can't just let you two leave."

she stared at it for a long second, then looked back at him with a mixture of hurt and betrayal "And that's it? you just shoot me?" she paused, then continued, anger replacing regret. "I respected you. Looked up to you. Hell I even jumped in front of a mad gaurdian's hand cannon because he was trying to kill you." she paused. "And now, you're just gonna put down one of your own, no questions asked." she looked truly hurt. "And I don't even get to look you in the eyes when you pull the trigger."

"Oooooh." the group chorused. He glanced sideways. The hand cannon lowered, and his ghost came out. The helmet dissapeared and Lavender gasped in suprise.

She hadn't expected to see the Hunter Vangaurd leader, but it made sense he was out on a training excersise with a group of rookies. Kalara glanced over at her.

Cayde casually tossed off "Have I ever told you, you can be really dramatic sometimes?"

Kalara's face turned red. She could feel tears forming, forced them back. They hadn't done anything but try to help humanity. And now this? Just for being different. She glared daggers.

"Uh..." He was confused a second before realising she was close to tears. "Oh no, hey, don't do that. Don't cry. Do not Cry." He took a step back, not sure what to do. Kalara looked away, trying to get her emotions back in check. Lavender walked over to stand next to her. she glared daggers at him. "How could you!"

"I can't let you just walk away, even if I wanted to, you know, too many witnesses." He motioned to the group he was with. Kalara glanced at them. "So how do we handle this, then?"

"I didn't see anything." one said.

Another retorted "Yeah, because you were on the ground."

There was a series of chorused "Oooooh." but the hunter shook his head, not replying.

Another looked at the first hunter to speak, then added "Me either." He looked at the pair, then to his group. After a moment there were nods and murmurs of agreement. Another, a blue clad female hunter added "I think the pack is in agreement. And the packs sticks together. Allways."

Fon, who had spoken first, added "Nicely put, Flitter."

She nodded.

off to one side, Nox kicked at the ground, mumbled something along the lines of "I hope they find you and shoot you." Next to him, Danaxia glanced at him, but stayed silent.

Cayde looked from them back to Kalara and Lavender. "I guess I'm out-voted." a pause, then "Just be careful out there. You never know what you might run into."

Lavender smirked. "I think they should be scared of us."

Kalara smiled faintly, then nodded. "Thunder and Lightning."

Cayde turned to walk back to his group and froze. Kalara and Lavender both gasped.

Nox raised his weapon, but it wasn't his usual auto-rifle.

It was Thorn.

It had been repaired, and now hummed with dark energy once more.

He fired.

Kalara made a pained noise as the three black thornlike projectiles made contact, with her shoulder, chest, and midsection. She stumbled back. She had forgotten thorn could also fire poisonous 'darts', daggerlike projectiles. She could feel it slowly taking effect.

Cayde had his hand cannon aimed at the young gaurdian. "Put the Hive weapon down. Now."

Sensing trouble, the other members of the group dissapeared quickly into orbit.

Nox slowly placed the weapon on the ground in front of him. Danaxia edged over, her own weapon trained on him, and lifted it gingerly.

Kalara suddenly felt very tired. Lavender caught her as she started to collapse. Kalara grabbed her friend's arm tightly, trying to stay upright.

She took out her ghost and looked at it. It's light was still there, but it wasn't moving. Lavender kept her friend sitting upright, and Kalara looked around desperately.

Without her ghost, there was no coming back. Ever.

She choked out "So this is it. No more respawns." she shuddered. "No more second chances." She looked at the ground, remembering the missions they had been on, how the whooped and hollered when they had defeated the last echoes of Oryx, or when they finally destroyed the Cabal tank on the Dreadnaught.

How they danced when they killed the Black Garden's heart.

She remembered the first time she and Zanthyr kissed.

She felt like panicking, like crying, screaming against the darkness that was inevitable. She had died and came back countless times. But this, this was it. Final. No return.

She looked up at her old mentor, who was keeping a keen eye on Nox, who had set the pilfered weapon on the ground. She told him "I forgot, I figured it out. what all the Transcendants have in common... I was gonna tell Ikora, I never got the chance."

Lavender was staring intently past Kalara, well beyond mad.

The hunter tried to catch her breath, but it was too much effort to stay awake. She could feel her vision begin to fade to black, the outer edges of her vision were already starting to fade into darkness. And there was no stopping it. She managed to get out "Don't let the fallen get me."

"Huh?" Lavender followed her friend's gaze. The colony ships. There were stasis chambers there, but it was too far away. "We'd never make it in time."

Kalara tried to take one more breath. The darkness had almost encompassed her vision. "Just... make sure nobody finds me."

"I will." Lavender glanced at Cayde then glared daggers at Nox, who folded his arms.

Kalara collapsed. Lavender lowered her friend to the ground, and her head raised, eyes glowing with barely-restrained lightning.

She launched herself at Nox, who glanced over at Danaxia. She tossed him Thorn and he snapped off a shot. Lavender phased, and the projectiles passed harmlessly through her. Both turned and ran, Lavender hurled a blinding bolt of lightning at them, but they had allready double-jumped and it missed them as they phased and dissapeared. She followed.

Cayde started after them, but remembered what Kalara had said. He couldn't just leave the fallen Hunter where she was. He thought for a second, then hit his comm. "Hey, how long did the tech guys say this gun's effects last?"

Zavala answered "you found them? Where?"

"The old Cosmodrome. And we also found thorn."

Zavala muttered "As I suspected."

"No, Actually, Lavender wasn't the one who took Thorn. Turns out, it was another Gaurdian. Goes by the name of Nox."

"Are they there with you?"

"Uh..." There was a pause then "..sort of."

Another pause, then Cayde explained "Nox ran away, Lavender went after him, and Kalara, well, how long does this EMP gun last, again?"

This time, Ikora answered "How far away from them were you when you fired?"

"About five feet."

A second or two passed, then Ikora answered "The effects of the weapon should be temporary, unless you are extremely close to the target."

"sooo, what? five minutes, ten?"

"It should only last about fifteen minutes, give or take."

"Okay, thanks." The comm switched off.

He commed his class "Hey, need you guys to head back to the tower. I'll be back there in a minue to fill you in, okay?" He recieved three affirmative comm dings, and the group headed back toward the tower.

Meanwhile Lavender was chasing down Nox and Danaxia, and had glided up above the pair, glidng down toward them. "You chose the *wrong* Gaurdian to mess with!" she hurled another lightning bolt at the pair. They leap out of the way, phasing as they went.

Nox looked up at her as he dodged the void orb following the lightning. "You're too slow, slacker." His Ghost appeared, hovering over the palm of his gloved hand, and he dissapeared. Danaxia muttered "loser." and dissapeared as well. Lavender snarled and punched the closest wall.

She looked around, having no idea where in the Cosmodrome she was. And to make things worse, she heard the roar of Fallen up ahead of her. She swore, then jogged toward the sound, which she guessed it was between her and her fellow hunter.

Kalara sat up, sucking in a breath, gasping for air.

"Easy, there, Gaurdian. Take it slow."

She looked around, eyes wide with terror, Like she had just witnessed some kind of nightmare.

Cayde tried to pull her to her feet, but she wavered as she looked around, face filled with fear. She fell to her knees.  
"Okay, if you need a minute, I can understand." he looked around for any threats. Kalara swayed, then passed out.

When she came to again, she rolled over onto her stomach, sucked in a breath, realised with sudden joy that she was still alive. She summoned her Ghost. "I'm alive!?"

"Yes, you are."

"Whew. But.. how?"

""The effects of the electro-magnetic pulse generated by the weapon were only temporary. While my light was uneffected, my mechanical components were completely paralysed."

"Oh, Oberon, I'm sorry."

"It was not your doing, although, I would suggest evacuating the area. The weapon is now in posession of the Fallen."

She spotted Cayde laying on the ground next to where she had just respawned, and spotted his Ghost on the ground next to him. It wasn't, moving, but it's light was still there, glowing steadily.

She went over to him, hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. She shook one shoulder, hoping he might have been knocked out.. No response "Come on, boss, wake up, please!"

The motion rolled the Exo onto his back and Kalara gasped, mind racing. An energy bolt had hit him squarely in the chest. She squeaked, trying not to freak out.

"Oh no. nonononono."

She looked to his Ghost. "Come on, little light, do something, please." she pleaded. But it didn't move.

She heard a distant roar. Her head snapped up, focusing on the source of the sound. She glanced back down, then hit her comm. "Lavender, it's Kalara. If you can hear me, I'm alive. Please come back to the Cosmodrome. I need backup. A.S.A.P. she paused and said "That means NOW."

The group of fallen appeared at the opposite end of the area they were in.

"oh HELL no." She picked herself up and looked toward the other end of the space. Then she glanced right. And down.

Panic raced through her. Then anger.

She looked at the group of Fallen, across the opening. She had only seen an Archon once, and whatever this was, it looked heavily armored, and had a whole lot of Dregs, four or five captains, and a few other creatures that were moving too fast for her to see.

One fired a cluster-swarm, a spray of four energy bolts at her. She threw her hands out, summoning a dome shield. Ther energy blasts splattered aginst it harmlessly, but the Dregs ran forward into the shield. Kalara punched each one as they reached them.

"I don't *think* so!"

She eyed the Captains. "You want some, come get some!" she launched herself into the air, summoning a blindingly bright light. She slammed down into a group of two, taking the first two out and ran-slid behind the second pair, summoninng her blade as she went. She twirled, bringing up her blade to catch the first in the midsection, ducking under the swipe of the second.

The sword in it's other hand caught her in the chest. Kalara laughed, malice in her tone "Kill you later."

She reappeared across the battlefield, running to launch herself into a double-jump. She summoned what she liked to call the 'fist of fury' as she came down, obliterating their remaining forces. Now it was just her and the Fallen Archon.

She backed up and looked the Archon squarely in the eyes.

It said something in it's language, probably an insult. Kalara put her sword away. It raised it's weapon and she ducked under the first shot, phasing to turn invisible. She ran up and power-punched it in the legs. It collapsed. She whirled, dagger flashing as she tore the weapon from it's hand. A palm-strike shattered the remaining appendage, and the EMP weapon dropped from it's grasp. Her left hand held behind her, she summoned an orb of solar energy. It howled out insults at her in it's native tongue. "Nas Mi e Sha'ir gu!" it tried futiley to swing at her. "ne sha di!"

She hissed out "Gu dres Na sha di Kas kur Ka!"and launched the fiery orb at it. The creature screamed as it was incinerated. She bent to pick up the weapon, and turned to walk away.

Her comm came on, and Lavender's voice came through, so staticky Kalara couldn't tell what she was saying.

She walked back across the empty space, eyes darting to the cylindrical tubelike objects littering the area for more fallen.  
When she had reached Cayde, she stopped, still wondering what she could do.

She started pacing, trying to think of something, anything.. She decided to comm the Tower. They had made the EMP. They would know how to fix this.

She just hoped they didn't try to blame her for it. she turned on her comm. "Exactly how long do the effects of this EMP weapon last?" she was allready starting to lose her nerve.

Zavala answered. "Baxtin! What happened!? Where's Cayde?" Kalara really hated when he used that tone. She opened her mouth to try to explain, then closed it. She wasn't sure if the weapon's effects would be temporary or permanent. She hoped for the former rather than the latter of those two.

"Uh..." she almost cut the connection. hand hovered over the switch. She took a deep breath, although shaky, and tried to find something to say. "Um.." But she couldn't make herself say it.

"Look, someone has Thorn, I got shot, I came to, I blacked out, I came to again, the Fallen got their hands on the EMP weapon..." She tried to take a deep breath and continue. "Just tell me how long, okay? HOW LONG!" She had to put a hand over her mouth to keep any other sounds in.

Ikora asked "How close were the Fallen to you?"

"I Dont Know!" shw whimpered, trying to take a couple more breaths. But that wasn't solving the problem. the hunter was trying to figure out what would happen if this went worst-case scenario. And she didn't want to imagine that. But it wasn't looking so good.

"How long ago did this happen?"

"I don't know! I passed out. Just please tell me it's only temporary." Kalara bit her lip.

"There isn't any data for a point-blank burst, but depending upon the range and duration of the blast, the effects of the Electro-Magnetic pulse should only last up to fifteen minutes." Kalara made an exasperated motion with her hands. "So, what if they were really close?"

"I doubt anyone could get that close to Cayde."

Kalara frowned. She wondered how one of them even got a clear shot at him. That was nearly impossible. She wanted to scream in exasperation.

"WELL SOMEBODY GOT A CLEAR SHOT AT HIM!" she realised she was almost yelling, and started pacing again. "I'm sorry. I'm just.. It's just..." she saw lavender appear in on corner of the open area. "Hang on." she ran over to where the other hunter was.

Lavender took off her helmet and her Ghost transmatted it. She looked super happy. "You're alive!" then she saw Kalara's face. "Everything's good thing, right?" She suspected something wasn't right. Kalara looked at her friend. "no, everything's not good. In fact, we have a very bad problem." She walked back to where they had been before and Lavender spotted Cayde "Oh no." she stopped suddenly, looked at Kalara. "Did he try to shoot you?"

Kalara looked offended "No! The Fallen came in here when ..." she paused. "The effects of the EMP are temporary, at a range. At least I think. I DON'T KNOW!" She was starting to get upset again. "I came to, then I passed out again. In that amount of time, the Fallen came in here and got ahold of the EMP gun and..." she trailed off.

Lavender started to reach for her comm.

"wait", Kalara caught her arm. "I already commed the tower."

Lavender paled slightly. "And they think we did it?"

"Kalara shook her head. "No. I explained the situation. I just don't know how long it takes the effects to wear off." She looked to the ghost laying in the grass. "Or if it will."

Lavender looked shocked. She finally asked "And what do we do if the effects don't wear off?"

Kalara let her head drop. She shook her head. "The Tower would never be the same."

There was a dull beep, so soft the two almost didn't hear it. "huh?" both looked over at Cayde's Ghost. Kalara reached it first and knelt next to it. "come on... please?" There was a slight twitch of one finial, as though it were struggling to move.

Kalara reached out and picked it up. She looked it in the eye "Come on, little ghost, you can do it." It beeped, a little louder now. Another tiny movement, then finally it's finials wiggled back and forth, as though it were readjusting. It floated slowly up from her hand, backed up, and fell like it had lost it's balance. She reached out and caught it.

"Woah there, take it slow. You're gonna be okay." She gave Lavender a smile, which then turned into a huge grin as the Ghost floated out of her palm and over to Cayde. "Oh my." It scanned him, and Kalara commed "Cayde's ghost is okay." she sighed with relief, then to Lavender "Crisis averted."

She turned off her comm, not wanting to continue any long discussion. Her mind was still made up.

She walked past Lavender, wiping at already dry tears.

Cayde sat up, putting one hand to his head, trying to stop being dizzy. A hand appeared, and he looked up. Kalara was standing there. She pulled the hunter to his feet. He looked over at Lavender, then back to Kalara. "You two didn't leave?" a pause, then "Why?"

Lavender replied "Why not?"

Kalara smiled. "The pack sticks together. Always."

Cayde's ghost floated over to hover over one shoulder. Cayde glanced at Lavender "So ya *do* care."

Kalara held out the EMP pistol. "We never stopped caring. About the tower, about the city." she looked to Lavender before continuing. "We've been out here fighting the Fallen and the Taken, this whole time. We even found a group of survivors. They were being hurrassed by raiders, then a group of Fallen came along. They were justabout done for, but we took care of them and told them how to find the City. They should be arriving there any day now. Called their settlement Whispering Oaks."

Cayde's comm came on "Cayde, get back to the tower and bring those two with you."

Cayde looked at the two of them, then "Uh, can't exactly do that, they just transmatted to orbit. You want me to go after them?"

"No. Just get back to the tower. We have important matters to discuss." The comm clicked off.

He turned and started to walk away, but Lavender suddenly said "Wait!" He stopped and turned. Lavender sighed, then added "We can help you find Nox." She paused, unsure if she wanted to elaborate.

Cayde encouraged "Go on."

She looked to Kalara, then added "*I* can help you find him." another pause.

"And?"

"And, I can... sense Thorn."

He walked back over to them. "Okay, now I'm interested."

Kalara turned to Lavender. "Actually, that makes two of us that can." she explained "That fifteen minutes I was out... It was like a horrible nightmare. I saw into the Hive. Into Thorn and the horrors it has inflicted. It's connection to the Hive. I don't know why or how, but that's why I woke up wailing like a terrified child." She glanced sideways. "That's why I passed out. I couldn't handle it." She looked at the ground.

Cayde nodded. "Well I know one thing. *I'm* not going after that mad Gaurdian. And you two faced him before. So if you're in, I can sneak you back into the tower." The two exchanged a look.

Lavender said "But they'll know our ships when we land, they probably have our ship ID's flagged." Lavender nodded.

Cayde shrugged "Then we'll just use mine." two nods.

Kalara suddenly realised their stuff was still atop the old building. "Hang on, I gott a go get some of our stuff." She ran and power-jumped, double jumped to a pipe then power-jumped the rest of the way up. A few moments later, she jumped and glided back down. "Ready."

Cayde saw the bottle "What's that?"

"Something called Vodka."

"is it any good?"

"It's okay."

Lavender smirked "It gets the job done."

Kalara rolled her eyes. "At least you got a buzz. I had one before all that, then BAMF no buzz." She made a hand motion to elaborate.

Cayde added "Well just don't drink it on my ship."

"We won't. but I don't want to leave it for someone else to find."

They transmatted away.

* * *

End notes: For the scene where Kalara basically yells at everybody, I had a peice of music playing while I wrote it. It's called "Everybody Wants to Rule The World". It's kinda Destiny in a nutshell. Just ignore the part of the song that mentions holding hands. That's not these two. Where the song speeds up and the line "There's a room where the light can't find you" is where Lavender walks in.  
But anyway, here's a link: /DaVA6sgOpws

Also, the translation for the Iliksni (Fallen) dialogue:

 **"Nas Mi e Sha'ir gu!",** and **"ne sha di"** is literally : **all house the GiftofLight cower** and **"I gift death"**

This translates into (in our language) **all Gaurdians are cowards!"** and **"I'll kill you!"**

What Kalara hisses back, **"Gu dres Na sha di Kas kur Ka!"** is (in directtranslation) **"cower, dreg, I gift death burn strong!"**

This translates into (in our language) **"Cowardly Dreg, I'll kill you, you will suffer!"** and calling an Archon a Dreg is a supreme insult.

I hope I got the Iliksni sentence structure right. I just started studying the language.


	2. Chapter 2

As the ship approached the tower, Kalara shifted nervously in the backseat. Cayde called back "When we reach the tower, just stay in the ship and hang tight. It won't take me long, and I'll signal you when everything's figured out." The ship hovered over the Plaza long enough for the Hunter to teleport down, then circled around to the hangar.

Lavender whispered "You think they know we're here?" Kalara thought for a second as the ship slowly hovered past a frame and onto the docking platform. "They do have scanners. They could have registered more than one person." They exchanged a glance as the lift clunked. Kalara realised if they were down inside the tower, there could be a whole lot of Gaurdians just waiting for them.

Lavender suddenly looked a lot more nervous "So this could be a trap?" The lift shot downward, and both Hunters were launched into the air. The lift slowed and they looked out of the window. To the left, a bay door opened, and the ship moved sideways into it.

In the darkness, Lavender asked "Where are we?"

A row of long lights overhead came on, from one end to the other. Kalara grinned. "We're at somebody's flat."

"whats a flat? oh, right, an apartment. Wonder what floor."

They crept out, looking around. The garage, for lack of a better term, was large, but not too large. Not small, but not large enough to be called spaceous. Off to the left sat a workbench as some tools scattered about. As they passed the nose of the ship, Lavender glanced to the right and whistled.

There was a room to the right of the ship, weapons hanging on every wall but the one open to the rest of the garage. Workbenches scattered with power cells and other weapon parts circled the room. They continued on, pressing the button to open the door.

They were at the end of a short hall, a door on either side. Lavender pressed the door button to her right and it slid open. She looked in. Kalara looked past her, then hit the door button. "I don't think the boss would appreciate us nosing around his apartment."

They continued on into the living room area. To the right there was a set of ceiling-to-floor windows, with a narrow balcony beyond. Just inside the windows, with enough space to walk behind it was a comfy-looking couch. Kalara walked over to the table in front of it, looking left at the monitor on the wall. "Hey, a game console."

Lavender walked up. "What's that?"

"I dunno. We were talking about... something or another, and the boss mentioned something about he'd rather be playing his favorite videogame."

She looked further left, toward the hall they had just walked out of. Facing that hallway, looking to the right, was a small kitchen area. Between it and the living room area was a counter. Kalara wandered up, picking up one of the photos there. It was a brunette woman, not looking at whoever had taken the photo. Kalara "hmm"ed and set it back down.

Lavender started laughing from the other side of the room. "what?" Kalara walked up. On the table was a photo of Amanda Holiday, dripping from head to boots in grease, glaring. Kalara chuckled. "That must have been some kind of prank." Lavender set the picture down as Kalara spotted something on the round table next to them. "What's this?"

It was a book. Coincidentally, the only book in the entire sparcely-furnished apartment. She went up and opened it. Lavender wandered over. "What's that?"

Kalara paused, scanning the pages. "It's... his journal." She summoned her Ghost. "Hey, can you copy this for me?"

Lavender scoffed "You don't want me peeking into the corners of his apartment, but you're actually copying his diary."

"Journal." Kalara corrected, giving her a glance.

Lavender rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Then her attention was drawn to the table next to the door. "Is that.." she walked over. Kalara set the book back where it had been and walked over. "It is. The Last Word." she smiled.

It was resting on a stand atop the table, and both Hunters couldn't help but admire it. Kalara wanted so much to hold it again, but knew that Cayde probably had some kind of alarm on it, as well as the rest of his guns, or prized possesions. Even here in the tower, a Hunter was a Hunter. There was no doubt in that.

Kalara finally nudged Lavender. "Come on. If we're gonna be sneaking around the tower, I need to get back to my apartment and grab a couple of things I forgot."

"Okay." the pair opened the front door, glancing opposite at the same time. "Clear."Lavender whispered. Kalara whispered "Clear. Let's go this way." Lavender had already started in the opposite direction, so Kalara turned and followed her, trusting sher knew where she was going. They reached a corner and Kalara whispered "What level are we on?" Lavender looked down the hall. "101."

Kalara nodded. "Our apartments are down lower, then."

The two jogged down halls, dodging other Gaurdians till they reached the lifts. They stepped inside and waited anxiously until it stopped. Both leaned out Kalara said "Coast is clear." they jogged right, and Kalara pulled out her access card, swiping it right as a pair of titans turned to walk down the hall.

Once inside, Kalara went to her storage to one side of her living room and retrieved her supplies. Ammo synthesis and other supplies they would need, then hefted her shoulder bag. "Okay, let's go." They stepped out, just in time to see a group of gaurdians rounding the corner to their hall. "Phase!" she went invisible, darting down the short corridor to the lifts, Lavender right behind her.

They rounded the corner and Kalara went to the second lift, pushed a few buttons, then ran back to where Lavender was. They held their breath as the doors slid shut, but the other Gaurdians hadn't reached them yet. Kalara leaned on one wall. Lavender suggested "we may want to be someplace they can't see us, just in case they send someone where both lifts are going." Kalara nodded.

The lift dinged and opened, but anyone in the Plaza wuld have sen an empty elevator. At the very top of the lift, Kalara looked down to where Lavender had phased invisible. The hunter stood, and Kalara jumped down. They edged out, becoming ran and ducked behind a stack of boxes, Kalara glanced behind her at the steps to the upper balcony before nudging Lavender. They edged into the empty plaza, pausing to jog over and hide behind the Eververse/Post office building. Lavender whispered "where do we go?"

Kalara looked around wildly "I don't know. The lounge? It's usually deserted."

The Hunters' Lounge, down in the hangar, usually was empty around this time of day. The pair knew a few civilians hung out there, but more than likely nobody would notice the pair.

They started across the Plaza, but froze when a voice commanded "Freeze! Do Not Move." Kalara let her shoulders drop slightly. They turned toward the source and Kalara grimaced. It was a trio of Titans. Two of whom were Cal and Ivis. Gavin was the third. Lavender gave him a wilting look. He looked suprised to see them.

Cal had his EMP sidearm out and aimed at the pair. "Do Not Move." Both Hunters raised their pair walked over, Gavin seemed hesitant, but simply shook his head. The other two Titans yanked off the pair's guns, and handed them to Gavin, who looked confused. He wasn't sure what to believe.

The pair were handcuffed and shoved forward. Cal glared at Kalara and smacked her between the shoulderblades with the butt of his rifle and barked "Move it!"

She huffed, but obeyed. The pair tried not to look around as they headed forward. But it wasn't toward the north tower. They were escorted down past the crucible stands and into the hall of the Vangaurd.

The leaders were talking but Zavala looked up suprised. "You two."

Kalara waved, as much as she could in handcuffs. Cayde rolled his optics, an unseen "I told you to stay on the ship." Kalara ignored it, but only to avoid implicating him.

"what are you doing back here?"

Cayde answered for them "Actually, that's my doing."

Another look of suprise.

The Exo added "I commed them, explained the situation, and they actually offered to help."

Kalara gave him a look of thanks. Zavala eyed the pair skeptically. Kalara raised her hands, clearing her throat. The two Tower gaurds looked to their leader, who nodded. The cuffs came off, and Kalara regaurded the commander for a second before explaining.

"We came back to help. I know, we're not on the best of terms right now, but we never gave up on the tower, on the city, or on humanity."

She glanced back to see if the trio was still behind them. She waited, not wanting them to hear about the reappearance of Thorn. "There are certain matters that need to be discussed without an audience.." she motioned towards Cal and Ivis. Zavala looked at them. "Dismissed."

"what?" Cal sputtered a bit, but finally (after probably glaring at Kalara), added "Yes, commander." and the pair walked out.

Kalara waited until they were out of hearing range, then said "we have past experience with Thorn. It would be foolish, heck, downright irresponsible to let some rookie team go chasing this guy down and get hurt." she glanced at Lavender who paused, but finally nodded.

Zavala looked unconvinced. "and what do you intend to tell the Speaker?"

Kalara blinked, looking at the floor. Then back up at him. "I don't think he even knows we're in the tower. We've gone sneaking around before. And what he doesn't know won't hurt anyone, right?"

Lavender huffed "unless Dumb and dumber tell him." she iognored the frown Zavala gave her. Behind them, Gavin inserted "I'll make sure they stay busy." Before anyone could argue, he turned, comming "Hey guys, I just got a call about a disturbance in the Hunters' lounge. Seems a Warlock and a Titan just got into it. care to come help?"

He listened then switched channels. "Hey Saniya, Quantum, how fast can you make it to the North tower? I need a distraction on the move." He was out of sight before they knew it, and Kalara looked back as he left.

She summoned her ghost. She reached up and gently grabbed him with her left hand.

"Hey!"

"It's okay, Oberon. You know I'd never hurt you." She moved one finial with a finger, then pulled out a small tool of some kind.

She turned so they couldn't see what she was doing.

the Ghost beeped "Just what are you doing?"

"Remember that chip I added?"

"Of *course* I remember."

Kalara rolled her eyes. "well, I'm removing it."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"Now you argue?"

"The chip may have experienced some data leakage over to my permanent data storage."

"we'll worry about that later." she knew if push came to shove, she could just have him re-scan her.

She pulled out the tiny chip, barely more than a quarter inch long, and walked over to Zavala. She held it out. "Here. You wanted this. It's about time I parted with it anyway. I don't need it."

He looked at the tiny thing as she walked back over to Lavender. "We never gave up, you know. we weren't out there goofing off.  
Lavender "Ahem"ed loudly.

"Well, not all the time. BUT" she gave her fellow hunter a meaningful look "We were still doing good. We found a settlement of human survivors out there, We fended off raiders, and even the Fallen. We pointed them toward the Tower. That was about a week ago, they should be here any day now. They called their settlement Whispering oaks."

He looked slightly suprised. "That was you two?"

Lavender grinned "Thunder and Lightning."

He nodded slightly. "They arrived at the city this morning."

Kalara walked back toward Lavender.

Ikora said from next to Lavender "If that chip has data from a Ghost not belonging to Jaren, perhaps it's Gaurdian's data can be recovered.

Lavender looked suprised. "Without their light?"

"I don't know. That is up to those who know more of the Ghosts and their light than I do."

Lavender nodded.

Kalara remembered re-reading the trajectory report Lavender had sent her right before returning. Now she remembered the other reason they had decided to return. "Plus, I think our 'wayward Gaurdian' may have decided to make a small segway on his journey."

Half a second later, she glanced around, mind hearing something whispering. She looked to Lavender. "Stay there unless you have to." She nodded, staying next to Ikora as Kalara stayed toward the center of the table. "I just hope I'm wrong." she muttered.

"Hello, teacher, mine." Wispy trails of dark smoke converging into an outline, and Nox appeared, across the narrow space, almost in the exact same spot Jarin had materialised some time ago. Kalara couldn't tell if he'd teleported or appeared out of thin air.

He raised his dark weapon, and Lavender jumped in front of Kalara, summoning a dome shield as he fired. The black-and-purple energy flared against it, but Lavender held it in place.

Three shots rang out from the right.

Nox staggered and fell, then dissapeared in smoky whisps of dark mist.

Kalara frowned from the doorway. "Damn, I hate being right."

Lavender looked suprisedly behind her, then over at Kalara, then behind her again, then back at the other Hunter. Kalara walked over. "Don't be suprised, it's not the first time this has happened." she sighed. "I just hope it's the last."

Lavender frowned. "I remember the last incident with that gun." They walked a few steps back toward the center of the table. Kalara went over and leaned againt it, her back to it.

Nox reappeared about a meter behind Ikora, over to the left "You have no idea what I can do." He fired three projectiles and Lavender instinctively phased, not realising the angle he was firing from. She glanced behind her at the far end of the Vangaurd leaders's table, and instantly realised who was directly behind her. Their commander. The Vangaurd leader. Blind fury suddenly flashed through her.

"Oh *HELL no!* She took one step forward, armor glowing orange. which turned into solar energy. She focused it into a burning orb, hurling it at the mad Gaurdian. "You're problem is with us, not them!"

Ikora whirled at the same time, summoning a huge orb of Void energy and launching it at the rogue Gaurdian. Both converged into a bright white light, and Nox dissapeared. Lavender blinked, then ran to where the commander was, holding out a hand. "You okay?"

Zavala looked genuinely suprised, but took the proffered hand and she helped him to his feet. She looked back at where Kalara was still at the center of the table. Lavender looked back at him. "Like I said, never stopped caring."

She looked around the room, then focused on the whispers in her mind. she closed her eyes, In her mind's eye, an image formed.

She snapped her hands out and a dome shield appeared. three purple-and-black energy blasts splattered across the surface. Kalara launched an energy bolt in front of her and Nox, who had been invisible, collapsed to the ground. Lavender raced over and started punching him.

She got in three good punches on his head, then snarled "Go ahead, summon that ghost. I willl end it, AND YOU!"

Kalara ran over and pulled back on her shoulder. "Lav, Lav, hey." Lavender shrugged her off and punched him again. "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. and You will NOT like where it goes." Kalara grabbed her and pulled her back, but not before the bottom of her boot got him in the face.

"Woah, okay, I think we go the point across." Lavender was still seething anger. Kalara calmly pulled out her EMP pistol and fired. "He's not going anywhere."

Nox wiped a hand across his lip, trailing blood. "You may have won this one, but there are other victories waiting for me out there." he coughed, and sudddenly pixelated and dissapeared.

Lavender gawked "What!?"

Kalara went over to the table, grabbing a portable monitor as she went. "That was a transmat beam. We need to find any ships in orbit." she typed furiously, then punched the table lightly. "they went to 'warp too fast." she looked at Lavender and shook her head.

Lavender looked over at Zavala. "His Girlfriend is helping him. Danaxia Glynn." she walked over and typed something. "I don't know what her stake in all this is, but that was probably her transmat beam." she frowned, bringing up the Hunter's profile.

She read a little bit. "She's also fairly new to the tower, no encounters with the Hive that would be out of the ordinary." she stopped reading and looked over to the commander.

"We need to find them, and quickly." Kalara spoke up. "well, if history is repeating itself.." she muttered "Traveler forbid." she continued "Then I think I know where we can find him." she added "If the EMP's effects are temporary at that range."

Ikora looked over "Cayde?"

"Yeah... it's about fifteen minutes, give or take."

Kalara nodded. "I just hope I'm wrong about this." she took a deep breath, then walked purposefully into the next room. "Lord Shaxx, I know you're probly gonna hate me for this, but I promise I'll make it up to you..." he voice faded as she walked away.

Lavender shook her head and glanced back over at Zavala. He gave her a nod. "Thank you for your assistance." She smiled slightly and nodded. "Anytime."

Shaxx could be heard loudly exclaiming "you want me to what!?" Zavala sighed slightly and walked past toward where Kalara was trying to convince Lord Shaxx to shut down the Crucible. Again.

Lavender turned to Cayde. "You have trackers on all the Hunters, right?"

"Yeah... unless he broke it." He brought up his monitor. "Huh. Guess he didn't. He's in transwarp right now, headed for the crucible arenas on Venus." He looked up. "Guess Kalara was right."

Lavender nodded, looking towards where Zavala had joined Kalara in talking to the Crucible handler. "I'd better let her know." and Lavender walked toward the trio, wishing belatedly that she didn't have to. Shaxx could get really loud when he wanted to get his point across.  



	3. Chapter 3

As they approached Venus, Kalara looked out the window at the other ships. It had taken some convincing, but the Crucible handler had told them "Go into the crucible. Prove that he is there, and then I will shut it down." Kalara had quickly commed Zanthyr and Gavin to join them. As thri ships approached the planet she commed them. "Remember last time we had to do this. Stay alert, and try to find him as quickly as possible." they teleported down.

Kalara leaned out of the starting area. "Looks clear." Lavender ran past, put her back to a giant block of stone. She looked around it. "No sign of him." She listened for whispers, but found none. Kalara and the two titans walked out into the open space. "He could be using stealth gear or something." she kept her EMP aimed in front of her as they advanced.

Kalara suddenly spotted someone. A titan, laying in the tall grass ahead of him. she jogged over. Gavin commed "Wait! it could be a trap!" but Kalara looked around, not sensing the dark weapon.

She nelt next to the fallen Gaurdian and summoned her Ghost. "Anything?"

Her Ghost scanned him, then floated back, casting the impression of suprised. "It appears that his light was completely drained." Kalara looked very worried. "but how?"

Her ghost paused, then replied "I don't know." it looked at her "What could have done this? Thorn?" Kalara slowly stood. "I don't know, but we have to find out." they continued on. A short ways further she suddenly halted with a gasp.

There were more.

A Warlock draped over a rock, still bleeding from a deep wound across his chest. Another laying to the right in the grass. Another Titan slumped against a wall. A Hunter further on, still clutching his blade. Kalara stopped cold. She hit her comm. "He's here." The rest of the team went to see if any were still alive.

Zavala answered "you found him?"

"No, but we found the Gaurdians he attacked." She took a deep breath, then said to the others "we have to find him. Now. Spread out. Keep your Ghosts with you, not in the open. Lavender ran past. "on it, boss."

Kalara almost said something about calling her that, but it was too serious a situation for converstaion.

Gavin went to check at the far wall of the first area, and called out "I have a live one." Kalara started forward, but he held up a hand, comming the tower. "I need the Crucible down now, and medical personel on-scene immediately."

the Titan looked the Warlock-class Gaurdian over, noticing one gunshot wound to the lower part of her chest. He carefully rolled her over onto her front, holding her head up so she could get air. The Warlock-class gasped, and Gaving reached up. "It's okay, we're here." he undid the latches of the Gaurdian's helmet, and she gasped in air. He nodded "I got you, you're okay now." She coughed and gasped some more, and he hoped help would arrive soon.

Kalara followed the others to the next area. They turned left and Kalara commed "Be careful there's lots of shadows up there he can use. and a tall pillar to the left."

Zanthyr glanced up at it. Lavender commed "He's further on. I can feel it." she suddenly broke into a run.

"What-" Kalara broke into a run to catch up, but before she could she heard the scream that came from down the course.  
Nox had a Gaurdian pinned in a set of twisted metal and ribar, and had planted one foot on the Gaurdian's chest, his left hand out, the Gaurdian's light slowly wisping away into it.

Kalara jumped up, summoning the flaming hammer. She threw it, but it blinked in and out, diaapearing before it even reached him. She swore and phased as he turned. She could have sworn he smiled inside his helmet. "So, we meet again." He fired Thorn, the projectiles passing though her. A shot rang out and he fell. Lavender stood from atop the stone pillar and waved. Kalara nodded.

Nox reappeared six feet to Kalara's right, he raised his weapon. She threw out both hands to create a dome shield. He fired and the shield flickered. It blocked the projectiles, but vanished afterward. Kalara took a step back, comming Lavender "I think something's wrong."

Kalara's Ghost said "There may have been some data leakage between the chip you inserted and my original systems."

"Which means what?"

A bleeping sound, then "I... may not have your full data profile."

Kalara grimaced. "We need to end this. Now." she glanced behind her. Zanthyr was right behind her. "We have to stop him before any more Gaurdians get hurt." she glanced behind her, and her voice wavered slightly "Or worse."

He nodded. "Yeah. We don't want a repeat of..." he trailed of, not wanting to bring up past confrontations.

Kalara commed "Lav."

"Right behind you." The Hunter appeared right behind her out of thin air.

Gavin's golden hammer appeared, and he threw it at the rogue Gaurdian's head. He dissapeared. Kalara glanced over "Not what I had in mind, but it works." The trio hurried over to the fallen gaurdian. A Hunter, from his armor.

He was trying to focus, but could barely keep his head up. His Ghost was on the ground in the grass. Zanthyr looked behind him as Lavender appeared. He knelt, not sure what to say. "Hey, you're okay. He's gone." The Hunter tried to say something, but couldn't. Zanthyr and commed "I don't think he's going to make it."

Kalara balled her hands into fists and looked up in frustration. "Zanther, make sure Nox doesn't get near us if he respawns."

Lord Shaxx's voice rang out over the loudspeakers throughout the Crucible. "Attention Gaurdians. The Crucible is being closed for maintenance. It will reopen in twenty-four hours."

Lavender came over and squatted down. "Hey. I know you're not in a good place right now, but that guy isn't coming back." she waited, and after a few gasps the Hunter nodded. She nodded, not breaking eye contact with him. "We won't let him." She noticed the majority of the ribar was through his midsection. not immediately deadly. Although from the way he was gasping, it was pretty obvious one of them may have punctured a lung. Kalara was still looking around, keeping an eye out for Nox.

She activated her super, and a flaming blade appeared in her hand. The Hunter used it to sever the metal behind the hunter. She grabbed one shoulder firmly and Lavender grabbed the other. Zanthyr grabbed the first bar and yanked it free. When the last peice of metal was gone, the Hunter collapsed backward, still trying to breathe. After a moment, he reached up and pulled off his helmet, taking two more deep breaths.

Kalara looked suprised. "Tanner?"

An amused smile appeared. "never thought you'd see *me* again, didjya?"

Kalara bit her lip. She remembered him from the training session she was in charge of right before everything went sideways. She looked back at the area they had just been in, hoping the medics would reach them soon.

Lavender thought quickly, then asked "Did he have a white gun with black stripes on it?" Another nod. Lavender looked up at Kalara and breathed a sight of relief. "Okay. Good." She looked back at the Hunter. "The EMP won't... That thing was an Electromagnetic Pulse... it won't kill your ghost." He nodded, sudenly feeling the world spin.

The Hunter passed out and Kalara checked to make sure he was still alive. "he just passed out."

Lavender wondered aloud "I wonder why Nox only used the EMP." Kalara shook her head. "Maybe he wanted the Ghost functional." She glanced at Zanthyr. "Jarin did the same thing. He had at least one ghost that wasn't his." Gavin appeared, jogging toward where they were. "Okay. The Medics are coming, but we have to clear out any other Gaurdians and take care of Nox." Kalara nodded and stood.

Lavender concentrated, but got nothing. "I can't sense him." Kalara tried, but shook her head. "This arena's not that big. Maybe he's somewhere further on." They jogged forward. Lavender noted "He could be anywhere." She hit her comm "Hey bosss, youre tracker still reading Nox on Venus?"

Cayde's voice came across the comm "Hang on." A moment then "He's still on Venus, but it looks like he's moved to one of the other arenas. How familiar are you with Asylum?"

Kalara shrugged. Lavender replied "I know it. It's popular for the big team battles." then she frowned. "Thanks." Her comm switchd off and she summoned her Ghost. "Let's go." the others followed.

They teleported down in the middle of an ancient city. They looked around then took up position in a circle facing outward. Zanthyr muttered "This place is creepy." Gavin looked down his scope into the entrance of one of the nearby buildings. "And there's way too many places he could be hiding, waiting to snipe one of us."

Saniya looked up, then said "On it" and jump-glided up to a nearby balcony. They edged down the steps and turned left, following the street. A sign to the right read "cafe". Gavin turned to aim his weapon at it as they passed. They passed a transit station and Gavin ducked inside, comming "I don't see anyone." he peeked into the next room before running out, and right into water. He looked down, slightly disgusted, then moved on. He kept his weapon trained on the next door as he went left to rejoin the group.

Meanwhile the group had passed a tall building to their left and Kalara commed "Hold on, back up." They took cover behind the rusted hulk of an ancient vehicle, and Kalara crept forward, phasing so she would be invisible. She switched to her sniper and looked toward the open windows and balconies, "I don't see anything."

She crept forward, switching back to her auto-rifle, the others following. They paused at the door then enered the building. Zanthyr whispered "It's so dark." He glanced left, hoping nobody would pop out of the shadows. He went left, sweeping to the right then left. "Nobody here."

He turned and Screeched as Saniya was standing right behind him. "And what would you have done if he had been there."

Zanthyr put a hand over his hammering heart. "Geez Saniya, you scared the life out of me!"

"Funny, I don't see your ghost."

"It was- you know what I mean." He shook his head and passed her as she jumped up to the top of the steps. She looked around. "Nobody up here." she glanced right, noticing the door. She edged forward, into the next room.

On the ground floor, Kalara went left around the huge tree growing next to the steps, and Lavender went right. They met in what looked like a garage.

They exited the building the same time as Gavin exited the one he'd been exploring. "Still no sign of him."

Lavender stopped cold, shivered, then half-whispered "He's here."

Kalara glanced over "If his girlfriend is here, how to we keep him from transmatting again?"

Gavin nodded "I'll handle that." He transmatted back to his own ship, and commed " I'll keep her covered. my ship has guns." Kalara made a scoffing noise. "You have a space-age mariner, don't you Gavin?"

"You haven't looked out the window during transit, have you."

Kalara sighed. Gavin turned the ship, looking at the sensors. "I'm picking up a dot. Headed for it now."

Lavender's head turned and zoned in on the building they had just explored when Zanthyr asked "Uh, where's Saniya?" As if in reply, there was a scream and a burst of solar energy. All three ran for the building. Lavender put in "She was going upstairs."

They hurried up the steps, Kalara turned left, Zanthyr right behind her. Lavender went right. She skidded into the room, looking around wildly. At the back wall, Nox somehow had the Exo pinned. He had his left hand out, her light wisping into it in waves. She was trying to throw everything she could at him, but none of it was effective.

He still hadn't seen Lavender, who went invisible, just in case. Suddenly he whirled and a blast of dark energy wrapped itself around her. "Lavender. We've been waiting for you." Lavender's vision flashed and for a brief instant she saw Jarin in the hunter's place, holding Thorn. She choked and tried to yell for help, but discovered she couldn't speak.

She felt herself move towards him, but couldn't pull away. She tried to understand if she was being pulled or if it was the darkness making her move. She raised her hands and electricity danced from her fingertips. As they got closer she tried to send it out, and something must have connected because he turned to fully focus on her instead of Saniya.

The Warlock class put a hand to her head and tried to move. But found she was still being held in place by whatever unseeable force held her there.

Kalara appeared and summoned a flaming hammer. She pulled back to strike and it blinked out. She tried to focus on the light and Zanthyr passed her to land a powered punch on the rogue Gaurdian's helmet. Not enough to kill him, but to knock him out. Kalara held up her hands, confused.

Lavender was still frozen in place. Kalara's mind flashed back to the heart of the black garden.

-FLASHBACK-

Lavender whispered "The heart of the black garden... The center of the Vex mind..." She shook her head, knowing she couldn't go to orbit. Their ships were back on Mars. She paced, suddenly terrified.

"It's the darkness."

Kalara looked over at the pulsing mass, a chill crept up her spine. "You mean...?"

Lavender nodded. She stared at it for a moment before taking a deep breath and paused. She waited a moment, then stepped forward, helmet tilting as though listening. She glanced at the Vex then continued, an eerie calm to her voice. "I get it now. I understand."

Kalara wasn't sure who Lavender was talking to until she continued.

"The darkness that ended our world. It's here. Part of it, that is. I can hear it, through them." Lavender took a step forward, and continued."When the darkness nearly ended our world, the Traveler's light stopped it. In it's final moments, the Traveler sent out a light so bright, it destroyed the darkness. It created the Awoken, from those who had fled to try to escape the darkness , but were too late. It created the Ghosts that would find and create the Gaurdians. The darkness was destroyed, but a small part of it survived somehow, and hid itself from the traveler, here."

"The Vex found it and protected it, worshipped it. This is a realm between worlds." She looked at Kalara. "We're in a pocket dimension of Vex making." Her gaze turned back to the floating black mass. Kalara felt another chill creep up her spine. "That's part of what nearly ended humanity?" She glanced sideways, but Lavender didn't answer.

A Vex fired, it's energy blast pinging off Kalara's shoulder armor. "Lavender, there's about twenty Vex down there. We should get going." But the hunter didn't move. Another shot sizzled across Kalara's arm. "That's just annoying. Lav; You with me?"

"Lavender?"

The Hunter was staring into the mass, listening to the sounds she was hearing.

"The power, the power, the power" they chanted. Almost like a song, singing in their language. Tones and chiming voices, beckoning, welcoming. She could feel them pulling at her conciousness. Behind her, she heard Kalara say something.

She wondered when she had started to move. She looked over at the other Hunter, but her image was fading as the world began to shift around her. Lavender saw the shapes forming, like a visual, vocal language. "Come to us, come to us." the voices whispered warmly to her, and she felt herself moving toward it, moving further into the trance that was the shapes and flowing music, the voices were getting louder.

She was suddenly curious, what was this? It wasn't Vex, but it wasn't trying to hurt her either. Suddenly she felt something come into contact with her armor, stopping her. "No," she tried to say "I have to get closer. Have to interact with it, figure out just what it is. Why does it want me?"

Kalara jumped down, getting in front of Lavender. "woah, hey, what's going on here?"

She didn't repond. Instead, she looked up at the dark mass, trying to walk forward. Kalara huffed as another Goblin fired, hitting her shoulder. "Lav, talk to me." She put up a hand to stop her friend.

Nothing.

A pair of vex got too close and Kalara landed an open-palmed strike on the first, punched the second. She realised the Vangaurd were probably listening on the other end, monitoring them. And she didn't want to give them any more reasons to mistrust either of them. She told her Ghost "Oberon, cut the feed." Lavender had nearly reached the center of the open area.

They were surrounded, but the Vex were ignoring Lavender. Kalara jumped straight up, activated her supercharge, and slammed down to punch the ground, sending every Vex coming up on them flying back for a twenty foot radius.

Lavender was still moving. She whispered, Kalara had to strain to make out her words. "It's calling me. It was meant for me... I belong to it now."

Kalara summoned her ghost. "Oberon! Cut the Feed! Now!"

On the other end of the line, They were indeed being monitored. Zavala glanced at Cayde, who shrugged. Then he commed Kalara "Baxtin, report. what is going on?"

Lavender realised they weren't alone. Whatever "they" were, now. She turned, switching to her rocket launcher, and fired at the intruder. Their intruder backed off, Lavender hoped for long enough to join in the melody. To speak to the voices that whispered to her.

"Yes, I'm coming. I'll join you soon." she wished that they could hear her.

Kalara dodged the rocket Lavender had just fired off at her, then commed the Tower "Umm, please hold." She looked shocked at Lavender. what in the name of the light was going on? She knew she had to do something to make her friend come to her senses. She fired off a round of shots, knowing it wouldn't get past Lavender's armor. But maybe it would be enough to make her wake up.

Lavender knew the rest of the mass were holding off whatever was threatening this...them. She felt several projectiles hit her. She could see again. It was a Gaurdian. The ones the Traveler had created. The ones that would kill them if they let it. She knew she had weapons. THis one was shooting at her. She chose to shoot bck.

But it was faster than her. Lavender felt the Gaurdian's blade pierce her armor, and felt herself scream. It was like a bad dream. She fired again, it said something, but it sounded garbled. The whispers had become voices.

[calculating probability of success...]

[unit 001114 offline]

[unit 06384 offline]

[unit 99612 offline]

[unit 99435 offline]

[requesting additional units]

[attack attack attack]

[gaurd the heart]

[devotion. worship]

[kill]

[we serve it's intention. it's purpose]

[we kill in devotion]

She could see it's twirling, dancing mass above her. It's energy trailed down. So close, but still not touching her. as though they didn't completely trust her yet.

suddenly another sharp pain raced through her, and Lavender felt this one strike her helmet, radiating through. Her strength dissapeared, and she reached out, trying desperately to make them hear.

"Help Me!"

But there was no reply.

She felt herself collapse, but somehow she was still alive. Or was she?

A brilliant light cut through the darkness and the whispering suddenly hushed. She opened her eyes, and the darkness was right over her. Still whispering. She stood, trying to listen, the music was fading. Something had happened. Then she heard Kalara speak.

"Lavender."

Was that her name? Yes, it was. Lavender. That was her. Kalara, Her friend was speaking. "Lavender, Avaria, listen to me." She turned to her friend, still entranced by the music playing over her friend's words.

"I know you've seen the darkness of the Hive, of thorn. it marked you. I know the darkness tried to take you, but I know that you are stronger. Those marks prove that you are stronger. Those scars are a testament to your strength. You faced the darkness once, and you won."

the hunter turned to her. "Did I?" Her voice was eerie.

"Yes, you did. You remember that battle. I do. You're still the Hunter I know. You'll allways be the Gaurdian I know I can depend on.." she smiled slightly. "Thunder and Lightning."

Lavender's voice sounded darker, somehow. "And what if the light was always just a lie?"

"What!? Avaria Lavis, have I taught you nothing!?" Kalara pasted her hands on her hips. "what if Gavin heard you taking like this!?"

Lavender suddenly thought of her boyfriend, Gavin. Her love. The one person she would give her life, her light to save. Handsome, charming, and had died once, very nearly for good fighting the Hive.

She started fighting the darkness she was now listening to. It was trying to take her. Trying to pry her away from him, away from what they had believed in... She remembered sneaking off into the city, watching the children play, trying to keep to the shadows so she wouldn't get mobbed by starstruck villagers.

She smiled, the voices faded out and dissapeared. She shook her head, like the music were a bad dream, and looked over at her friend.

She took a step back from the mass and stumbled, dizzied by the effects of the darkness that nearly took her over. Kalara caught her, adding softly "We're here to vanquish the last remnants of the darkness. We have the light. We can do this."

Lavender looked at her, then nodded, found her feet, and focused on a group of five Goblins. Lightning started to appear around her. It flickered for a moment. She shook her head and tried to ignore the whispers tickling at her conciousness.

Kalara summoned an orb of white energy and launched it at the Goblins. They looked around. Lavender had her auto-rifle out and had jogged left to take out three more.

-PRESENT MOMENT-

Kalara went over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Lavender." The Hunter wavered slightly, then turned.

"You okay, Lav?"

a nod.

"Good."

Lavender went over to help Saniya up, but the Warlock shook her head. "Too weak." Lavender looked at the others just in time to see Nox's ghost float up. The Hunter dissapeared. Lavender swore, and pulled Saniya up, Zanthyr hurried over to help. Lavender said "We have to get her out of here." She looked around to make sure Nox wasn't still around.

Kalara shook her head "There's no telling where Nox went, and we can't send her to orbit without her using her Ghost."

Meanwhile, up in orbit, Gavin approached the other ship, an Arcadia class hovering over the planet's equinox. He wondered what he could say. He approached the ship, hoping it's weapons hadn't been repaired. His sensors identified it as Danaxia's ship.

"This is Gavin Tessuin of the Tower Gaurd. Power down your ships engines now or I will fire."

The other ship went to warp.

Gavin commed "She just went to transwarp."

Kalara answered. "And there's no telling if Nox is still down here or not."

"I'm going after her."

"If you can track her, go ahead. We'll stay here and look around some more."

The comm clicked off, and Gavin's ship went into transwarp.

Kalara put her back to the group, moving back until she was closer. "Okay, new plan. Saniya, you go up to orbit, we keep an eye out while she transmats.

"Okay." came the weak answer.

The two Gaurdians set her down and her ghost floated up, then it scanned her. A beam of light shot out. The Ghost said "You didn't believe I could do that, did you?" Saniya smiled. "thank you." her Ghost made a noise and dissapeared again. She stood. "There. Much better."

She started forward but abruptly stopped, focusing on the far wall. She thought she had seen a slight ripple in the air, as though an invisible object were passing by. At first she thought it was the aftereffect of being dizzy from weakness. She commed "When I say to move, move to the sides. I think I see him." Kalara looked to the left, trying to see what Saniya was. Lavender was trying not to look straight at him. "I see him, too."  
"Really? where?" Zanthyr started looking around.

Saniya commed "NOW!" and as the other three jumped to the sides, she launched a bolt of void energy into the rogue hHunter's legs. She caught him completely off gaurd, and let out a cry of pain as he collapsed. His Ghost came out. Kalara fired her EMP pistol at it. It made a noise and dropped. Nox caught it.

saniya strode over and snatched it from him. She commed "we got him." to Gavin, who had dropped out of transwarp over Mars. "That was quick."

"He was trying to use stealth tech of some kind. Not even good stealth tech at that."  
"So how'd you get him?" Gavin double-checked his ship's monitors. Danaxia had been there, but her sensor trail had gone dark.

Saniya shrugged. "I broke his legs and Kalara took his Ghost. How's your chase going?"  
"Danaxia was here but it looks like she left again." He double checked the tracker. "she's headed back your way. I'll try to get there first." The ship zoomed back into transwarp.

Lavender raised her weapon but Kalara stepped in front of her. "Wait, you don't have to do that."

"Why not? He has no Ghost, and it would be a lot less trouble getting him back to the tower.

Zanthyr sounded shocked. "Really!? You're just gonna shoot him!?"

Lavender rolled her eyes inside her helmet. "The effects of the EMP pistol are temporary." She shook her head.

Zanthyr was suprised. "Oh. I didn't know that."

Nox raised his weapon and fired three projectiles. Kalara shoved her hands out to make a dome shield. It rippled, blinking in and out. Lavender generated her own as the Hunter fired, and Kalara's shield dissapeared.

Zanthyr ran past them to grab Thorn with one hand and punch Nox with the other. He turned around. "Got it." A shot rang out from outside, and the Titan collapsed. Kalara ran toward him. "Sniper!" The others ducked away from the window and to the back of the room. Zanthyr's Ghost was hovering over him, and he sat up.

Kalara suddenly felt tired. She looked down. The three sharp projectiles had gotten through her flickering shield. She tried to focus, telling Zanthyr "Stay low. We have a sniper. Probly Danaxia."

Nox stared at her, dark energy whisping over his armor. It made Kalara's skin crawl. "You'll never win, you know. I will consume your light, your friends' light, and every other Gaurdian and there is; Nothing you can do will stop me. My master is most powerful, all will fall before him."

Kalara looked from Zanthyr on her right to Nox on the left. "And I suppose your girlfriend has the same idea?"

"She'll come around." he shrugged "Or be consumed, whichever." Kalara gasped. "That's horrible." She winced, trying to fight the effects of the poisonous barbs. " Does she know this?" she was hoping said Gaurdian was close enough to hear. "Does it matter?" he chuckled darkly. "Where the darkness is strong, a will can bend." he looked at Lavender."Even yours." he nodded once "I saw what darkness lies within you. There's more in common there than you think."

Lavender raised her auto-rifle and fired. "I will *never* be like you." Kalara heard Zanthyr say her name as she collapsed, but the world faded into darkness. Something hit the floor and rolled past Nox. Lavender screamed "grenade!" and the room dissapeared in light and noise.

Some time later, none of them were sure how long, they reappeared one by one. Saniya looked over as she saw movement and nearly fired, until she realised it was Gavin. He went to Kalara next, and Lavender helped Saniya to her feet. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She looked over at where Nox had been, dissapointment coloring her tone. "He got away."

"Yeah. But I know where he's going."

Gavin had gone past Kalara to Zanthyr. He reappeared, looking over at Kalara, then back to Gavin, confused. Lavender and Saniya walked up. "What? What's wrong?" Gavin knelt and silently picked up her Ghost. It's light flickered. Lavender hurried over. "Give him to me." He held it out, and Lavender took the ghost, focusing.

Electricity arced over her armor, then got brighter. Traces of void energy appeared, interlacing with it, and orange whisps lit up around her, mixing together into a soft white light.

The light got brighter and she focused on it, until a brilliant white light surrounded her, making the other Gaurdians step back and cover their eyes. The light faded and Lavender lowered her hands slightly,

Kalara's ghost floated up and turned to look at her. "I had no idea you could do that." It made a beeping noise and spun it's back finials, sounding impressed. "That was amazing!"

Lavender chuckled softly. "thank you."

It hovered a moment before going over to Kalara, scanned her, and she dissapeared, reappearing half a second later. "He got away again, didn't he?" she sounded dissapointed. Gavin nodded.

"But" Lavender put in "I think we know where he's going."


	4. Chapter 4

A.N: First off, thank you **_tuckerjswindle_** for the review. Truth be told, I had almost given up on this. Work, life, and other things had me so busy I wasn't sure I wanted to continue writing this. Your review really made my day!

This chapter popped into my head out of the blue at work, and took me a couple of days to work up the courage to write. It's a lot shorter than I wanted it to be, but.. it is what it is, I guess?

It's really just a bit of filler explaining how Kalara and Lavender got away (from the Tower) wihtout being hunted, and into the Taken King missions (dialogue and all) without winding up in trouble again. Though, that probably will pop up again later.

Takes place during chapter Three. Just wanted to mention that.

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TYPE: COMMUNIQUE C51707-01

SUBJECT: REPORTING STATUS OF [FUGITIVE] GAURDIANS 'Thunder' and 'Lightning'

SECURITY: CONFIDENTIAL

PARTIES: Two

One[CZ] Vangaurd Commander Zavala

Two [SP] Consensus leader "The Speaker"

/TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS../

SP: I have recieved reports the two fugitive Gaurdians we are seeking were recently apprehended and escorted back to the Tower. Is this true?

CZ: It is.

SP: Then why were they not brought to me?

CZ: It *was* my intention. However, as Vangaurd Commander, it is also my responsibility to debrief and determine the actions of any of my Gaurdians, includng those in questionable regaurd. [SHORT PAUSE] The circumstances surrounding their escape was, unfortunately, beyond my or any other member of the Vangaurd's control. I'm sure you're aware of the newest developments concerning the theft of the weapon known as Thorn?

SP: I am. It has been reported one of the fugitives has it in her posession. Has the Tower Gaurd discovered how the pilfered weapon was obtained?

CZ: The Tower Gaurd is investigating the incident and will determine the circumstances surrounding it's theft, and in doing so ensure that such an incident will never take place again. However, as for Avaria Lavis and Kalara Baxtin, Avaria Lavis is not the Gaurdian who stole Thorn. The Gaurdian in question is named Sym Noxiere, known also by the alias of 'Nox'. He is currently being persued by two fireteams, who will either apprehend him or deal with him in the manner of which the situation calls for.

SP: And the two Gaurdians? How did they escape?

CZ: It would appear that our 'Rogue Gaurdian' is under the influence of none other than the Taken King himself. Lavis and Baxtin have... volunteered to go permanently deal with Oryx themselves, and presumably break the hold that he has over Noxiere

SP: they were not supposed to have been allowed to leave, yet you let them leave, twice. Why?

CZ: The first time was an oversight on my part, For which I apologise. However, I believe it would be irresponsible, if not downright foolish to risk a full fireteam of Gaurdians, nevertheless two, when we could send in only two Gaurdians who have all the abilities of a full fireteam apiece. There are no other Gaurdians on that area of the Dreadnaught, so there is no risk of any other Gaurdians discovering their abilities. And, should they fail, [MUFFLED SIGH] the Tower would have no secrets to have concerns about.

SP: Every Gaurdian is valuable. However you do have a valid point. Very well, if you believe thay can succceed, perhaps we can finally be rid of the 'Taken King' for good. [PAUSE] And if they do survive to return, I wish to have a word with them both.

CZ: Understood. I will keep you informed.

/TRANSCRIPT ENDS/

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A/N: It is harder than crap to write the Speaker or Commander Zavala, nevertheless at the same time! whew!

That literally took THREE hours to figure out! AND it came out way shorter than I had intended. I really was trying not to make either person seem condescending, just "intellegently debating". I was trying to have both characters word things in a way that the other person couldn't reply without seeming insensitive. A sort of "verbal ping-pong", if you will.

It also took me a bit to find the "Transcript format" to use from the Grimoire. I like to stick to the familiar where I can.

And there's a reason the Commander didn't mention those "two teams" working with Kalara and Lavender. They would probably be in trouble if anyone knew they knew Kalara and Lav are unclassed.

EASTER EGG - sort of: I Googled Sym, it's short for Symbiosis. Nox is the Roman Godddess of night, who's Greek counterpart is Nyx (who, according to mythology was born from chaos. Just... look up Nyx on wikipedia. It's interesting. ...and vaguelt Hive-ey. (LOL) so, together, well, it *was* unintentional, but I realised I did't have a first name for Nox and that's what my brain came up with.


End file.
